Two protesters arrested at aquariumBALTIMORE -- Two local...

IN THE REGION

BALTIMORE -- Two local members of the Dolphin Project were arrested just before noon yesterday in a dramatic animal rights protest outside the National Aquarium.

One of the protesters, Baltimorean Logan Cockey masquerading a papier-mache dolphin costume, was locked up after rescue workers cut him free from the bicycle lock he used to chain himself to a rail outside the aquarium's ticket booth.

The other suspect -- arrested while preaching outside to people waiting for tickets about how wrong it is to keep animals in captivity for human enjoyment -- was Ben L. White, 40, of Middleburg, Va.

Both men, held last night at the Central District lockup, were involved in a similar protest last December when they disrupted a performance at the aquarium's Marine Mammal Pavilion after a female beluga whale died there.

"As long as the aquarium functions as a dead end for dolphins to entertain humans, we're going to be there protesting," said Patti Cockey, Mr. Cockey's wife. "This is going to be routine."

Vicki Aversa, spokeswoman for the aquarium, said the demonstration did not deter visitors.

"The visitors cheered when the police took them away," she said. "We are saddened that they are not doing something more positive for the environment."

Baltimore man killed in Beltway accident

TOWSON

TOWSON -- A 25-year-old Baltimore man was killed when his car ran off the road and smashed into a concrete pillar on the inner loop of the Beltway near Providence Road early Saturday morning.

State police said Michael R. Boyer of the 1300 block of Union Ave. was driving north on the Beltway at 3:45 a.m. when he lost control of his car and it went off the right side of the road, up an embankment and hit a light pole.

His car bounced off the pole and hit a concrete pillar at thProvidence Road overpass, police said.

Mr. Boyer was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Masked gunman in critical condition

BALTIMORE

BALTIMORE -- A masked gunman who fired gunshots at two off-duty police officers at a McDonald's restaurant in West Baltimore and was hit eight times by the officers' return fire was in critical condition last night.

Wayne Jerome Morton, 35, of the 900 block of Greenmount Ave., was in critical, but stable condition at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, a spokesman said.

Police said the man entered the McDonald's at 11:05 Friday night in the 2500 block of W. Franklin St., walked to the counter and pulled a ski mask over his head. A patron who saw the suspicious man pointed him out to Rodney Price, a Central District officer who was working as a security guard at the restaurant.

Another officer, Michael Hill of the Northern District, was visiting Officer Price, waiting for him to finish his shift.

Officer Price walked up to the masked man and identified himself, which led to a struggle between the two men. They both fell to the floor, and the masked man pointed a .38-caliber handgun and fired twice at Officer Price, who rolled out of the line of fire. The officers then began firing at the gunman, hitting him eight times, police said.

No others were injured. A window was shot out in the restaurant, police said.

A routine administrative investigation into the shooting will be conducted, police said.